Birmingham Is Happening!!

Don't you remember watching the Hoover commercials and hearing their slogan, "Hoover's Happening!!" Well now we can use that for Birmingham, especially for the next four days. There are SOOOOO many things going on for people to enjoy. From music, art, food, beer, and everything else in between. There is no reason for anyone to say there is nothing going on in Birmingham. Here are some of the stuff that are going on:

Tonight starts the first night of Birmingham Art Crawl. This will be an event that happens the first Thursday night of each month. Places like Rogue Tavern, Collins Bar, Wine Loft, and John's City Diner will have artist(s) show off their pieces for you to see. You could even have a chance to meet with the artist. More info can be found at the Birmingham Art Crawl website.

Your Birmingham Barons will be back in town for a game at Region Field against the Jackson Generals. It will also be Thirsty Thursday and the Birmingham Concert Series w/ Fung Shway performing at 5:30pm. It's always good times when the Barons are in town, so make sure to go out and support them tonight.

On Friday and Saturday, the 8th annual Magic City Brewfest will take place at Sloss Furnace. This is where you can try different beers from breweries across the state and country. There will be food trucks, music, and lots of fun. If you still haven't gotten a ticket for this, you need to!! Go to the Magic City Brewfest website for more info.

On Saturday, the Lakeview district will turn into a big block party as the 3rd annual Slicefest will take place. Three years ago Slice Pizza and Brew decided to honor their anniversary by having a big festival with music, pizza, and beers. The last two have sold out, so this time will probably be no different. There will be musicians performing, local breweries will have their beer available for you to enjoy, and(of course) Slice will have their pizza out for you to eat. For more info about this year's Slicefest, go to the Slicefest 2014 website.

If you want to enjoy the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, then go to Railroad Park this weekend for Symphony in the Summer. Three performances done by the ASO to end their concert series for the season. This is an event the whole family can enjoy!! Show starts at 8pm on Friday and Saturday and 6pm on Sunday. Go to the Symphony in the Summer website for more info.

There a plenty of things going on the next few days, so don't stay inside the house. Make sure to go out, bring your fun side, and enjoy the city!!!

You'll Never Ride Alone

Do you have a group of friend you hang out a lot with? Do y'all have a particular group name that people remember you by? Well, I can answer this question very easily.

See, I am a part of a group of friends that have done a lot of things around the campus of UAB. We have done a lot of things for the UAB Band program as well. There is a group of four saxophone males(me include) that were some of the loudest and rowdiest fan ever to come to any UAB sporting event. Our names were Jess, Marable, Josh, and Ralph, but everyone(at least in the band) knew us as "The Four Horsemen".

The Four Horsemen

Quick explanation how I met each guy:

Jess: Met him during a high school football game when he first started at UAB and during my senior year in high school

Marable: The two of us first met during Student Orientation and found out that both of us were saxophone players and in the band together.

Josh: We first met in band when we was in high school

All four of us have been friends for almost a decade now(Josh and I a little longer than that). We have traveled to so many place and made a lot of noise during games. People know who we are when we are together, and it's because of the good things we all did during our time together. Even though now we are all doing our own thing, we still get together and remember the times we had. The legacy of The Four Horsemen will always live on even when we leave this earth, and I am so glad to say that I have three friends that always have my back(and it's the same way for them from me). When you're a Horsemen, you will never ride alone!!!

Sunday Funday

Hoping everyone had a great weekend. For me, it was okay. Sunday though was probably the best out of the weekend. I got word that my one of my post(Light Up the Night) was selected as a "Post of the Month" for the month of May. I am very honored to know that my blog is being looked at and also noticed by other folks.

I was also able to spend lots of time with my fiance and our were little kitties. One of them, Ava, slept most of the day. Let just say that she looked adorable while doing it.

Isn't she just so cute?

After being around her and getting hungry, Whitney and I both decided to get some lunch. We wanted to originally go to Saw's Soul Kitchen, but they was closed. Where to go now? Well we decided to go to On Tap in Lakeview. We haven't been there in a while, so it was good to come back. They had some new items on the menu like Cajun Fries for a starter. They were not too spicy, but still good. We both got some beers as well. Whitney got Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, and I got Trim Tab IPA.

 Trim Tab IPA

 Whitney's Cherry Wheat

 Watching College Baseball

 ...and Soccer

 Always United

 Is she lovely?

 BURGER!!!!

Cajun Fries w/ Spicy Ketchup

So once we got done with our lunch, we headed to my car. One problem though. IT WAS RAINING HARD. :-(  Luckily it didn't last long, so we was able to go to Railroad Park for some NOLA Ice. If you still haven't had them yet, you need to. Follow them on Twitter @NOLAIceBham.

Root Beer

White Russian

After some much need grocery shopping, we headed back home to get ready for WWE Payback. It was a pretty good show. The main event was a Six Man No Holds Barred Elimination match with The Shield going against Evolution. It was a epic match, and justice prevailed as The Shield defeated Evolution. After the match, you can tell that they were beat.

Now that it's Tuesday, got get ready for a long week of work. It will be well worth it at the end though. Hoping everyone has a great and successful week.

Turn It Up Thursday

Hey World!!! Since we didn't have it on Tuesday, today we will "Turn It Up". That's right. Today is "Turn It Up" Thursday.

The choice I have today is a group I have been listening to for a few years. They are called The Bangerz(aka The Fingerbangerz). They are a group of six DJ/Producers from the Bay Area of California. You probably heard their music before if you ever watched a Jabbawockeez performance after they won ABDC. Now usually I describe the artist/group's music, but this time I think it will be better if you just listen and experience it. Ladies and Gents, here are The Bangerz.

Hope you enjoyed The Bangerz like I did. If there is an artist or group you think I should listen to, leave a comment and let me know. Take care!!!

Four Is Better Than Two

Hey World!!! Hope you enjoyed the long weekend away from work. I know I did because I was able to have a FOUR DAY WEEKEND!!! I usually do not get days like this, so I made sure I took advantage of it.

On Friday, I got up and did usual routine of watching TV with Whitney before I walked with her to her car as she left for work. After she left for work, I started to clean around the apartment. Yes, you heard right!! I cleaned my place. Why would I do that at the beginning of the day? Well I was preparing for the Beer Tasting that my fiance and me had planned for some of our friends(more about this later). A lot of dusting, washing, wiping, sweeping, and anything else you can think of took place to make sure the place looked nice.

After all that cleaning, Whitney came home from work for the day. We were both hungry(me more than her). We decided to go out somewhere for lunch, and we chose one of our favorite places. Yes, you guessed right. We went to Ranelli's!! Whitney got the Pizza Sub(Pepperonis, Sauces, and Mozzarella Cheese). I got the Meatball Sub, but this time I got a large sub. I made a good decision.

Don't you want some!!

After a wonderful lunch, the two of us went to Hop City to get beers for the Beer Tasting. We had three empty growlers at home and brought them back to get the filled up. We got Southern Tier Mokah, Clown Shoes "Tramp Stamp" Belgium Tripel, and Brew Stooges Vanilla Porter(all of them were good choices). I decided to also get Southern Tier Goat Boy in a bomber(still haven't tried it yet). Once we got home, we put all of the new beers in the refrigerator.

Such a beautiful site.

After all the shopping, we got ready for the Beer Tasting. We wanted to do something fun and new that we haven't done before at our place. The rules were to bring a beer(either six pack or bomber) that you haven't tried before. This way people could try different varieties of beers that they might never heard of before. It was a huge success, and we will do this again for sure this summer. We did go to bed after all of this until 4a Saturday morning.

Saturday was pretty much a day to relax from the Beer Tasting. We both just watched TV in our PJs and ordered some Wing Zone. I did go out with my friend Jess and went to Bottletree for Neon Electric. It was a 80s themed dance party show that Birmingham Mountain Radio usually does on Friday evening. It was fun, but I was still so tired from the night before, I ended the night early.

Sunday was very nice because I didn't have to worry about work on Monday, so we stayed again and had Sonic for lunch. We also did Full Moon for dinner and had their so damn good brisket.

Monday was pretty much our Sunday, so we went to Target for some shopping. We also got ready for our dinner that we was cooking. We decided to cook Sloppy Joe and Macaroni Casserole. It was so good. Go to http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/sloppy-joe-and-macaroni-casserole.html if you want to see the recipe for it.

Prepping the sauce 

Doesn't that look good.

Now it's time for me to head to work, and get back to my daily grind. What did you decide to do for the long Memorial Day weekend? Hoping you can survive this short week and remember to always stay positive.

Much Love to you all.

Service With A Smile

Disclaimer: The thoughts and beliefs of this post is strictly how I feel and no one else.

When you go to a restaurant, what do you usually go for? The food? Drinks? Atmosphere? Service? All the above? All of those are good reasons.

With me being a server, I always want to make sure you are having a good time. From the time you enter til you step out, I want everyone to feel like they are around friends. I also want to make sure that you have fun with me. Eating good food is good, but if you are not enjoying your stay then it's really not a good time.

Now, I've only been serving for close tons year now. I am no way saying that I am the best or greatest server in the universe. I just know what works for me. I always like to treat my customers the same way I want to be if I was in their situation. Treating people with respect and just making sure they feel comfortable is how I treat my people.

Now everyone that I have might not always be the nicest folks in the world, and that is okay. They will still get the same service from me no matter of they are rude to me or not. You will still a genuine greet and a big smile from me.

Now when you see me at work, I'm usually having fun. Sometimes it could be me singing to the songs, or it could be me dancing around the restaurant. I just want you to know that eating at a restaurant doesn't have to be so serious.

For me, getting a big tip isn't always the most important thing about the night. Don't get me wrong, I need to make money. It's when I know that my table loved the service that I gave them and leaves a comment card stating that, those are the things I like to hear.

So the next time you go out remember to have fun when you go out. Whoever your server is, be somewhat interactive with them, and always make sure to let them know how they did. Most importantly, remember that tips are usually the only way they make a living. So please make sure to tip your server(this includes bartenders if you are at the bar).

Enjoy your next food adventure, and hopefully I can be able to serve you soon!!

Turn It Up Tuesday

It's Tuesday, and you know what that means. It's time for today "Turn It Up Tuesday" choice. Today we are going to not look at a musician but a composer of music Have you ever heard of Jim Johnston? If you are a wrestling fan, you probably have. He has done numerous theme songs for wrestlers in the WWE for over two decades. People like The Rock, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Brock Lesnar, The Ultimate Warrior, and many others have had their music created by Johnston. Jim has also done music for WWE Studio movies and some of the PPVs for the company. Here are some of my favorite entrance songs done by Mr. Johnston: